The Shade of Abandon

[Kentrith Hapley]

Kentrith watched yet another fight in the shadows, waiting for Komi to finish. Watching her movements, he was unsurprised to note a certain sharpness to her moves. She seemed fiercer, and faster, each swipe with more power behind it, and each dodge from a toad trident seemed more desperate. No wonder, Kentrith thought wryly. It?s only when she?s about to leave that she pulls out her best performance.

The weather couldn?t decide whether to pour the rain or send it driving into every beast?s eyes with a howling wind. Such weather usually made Kentrith miserable with aches, but he was thankful for it today. Getting the kits out would be easier under the cover of the storm.

Cheers erupted from the crowd, as Komi doubled back on one of the natterjacks, neatly inserting the spear blade deep into its neck as if it belonged there. The flabby beast rolled over as its partner croaked in rage and dashed for the stoat. Spear haft tripped toad, toad bowled over, spear struck toad heart. The fight was over just like that, and Kentrith?s fur stood on end. It was time.

As the crowd roared its approval of bloody sport, Kentrith made to turn, aiming for the suite when a still figure caught his eye. In the midst of the milling and cheering crowd, Tavin stood motionless, staring down into the arena. The bundle he had carried up until now was missing, and there was a new glint to the young beast?s eye that frightened Kentrith. Heart pounding in his throat, he surged toward the stoat. What is he doing here? He could be caught! He could get us caught, before I can get the Dibbuns out!

As he pushed through the crowd, he pasted a wide smile on his muzzle, slapping backs and raising a paw in jubilation when urged to join in celebrating. He reached Tavin?s side without him noticing, slung an arm around his neck, and began dragging him in the direction of his tunnel. Tavin jerked against the hold before he saw who was pulling him away.

?Kent,? he began, but Kentrith interrupted with a hiss.

?Not now,? he gritted through his forced smile.

He reached the relative privacy of the passage that lead deeper into the Crater, and swung Tavin around until the young stoat faced him. ?What are you doing here?? he whispered harshly, glancing over his shoulder, then Tavin?s to see if they were watched. ?You?re supposed to meet us at the kitchen door!?

?I couldn?t wait to see my mother,? Tavin whispered back angrily. ?After five years, I have to wait peacefully to be reunited? I don?t think so!?

?You think you won?t be recognized? Or that you won?t be noticed??

?Isn?t that the point of staging the escape now??

Kentrith sputtered as a small wave of beasts flowed around them, most likely hunting for snacks to eat during the next fight. After they were alone again, he intoned, ?It doesn?t matter why you?re here. You are endangering everything about this mission.? Tavin opened his mouth to protest, but Kentrith wasn?t finished. ?So, you will help me. You will assist the escape, and if nothing else has gone wrong? hopefully she will be there to greet us when we get out.?

?Oh, good,? Tavin replied, not even putting up a token of a fight. ?Lead the way.?

A sudden screech had them both whirling to face the far wall, where FTN?s banner was drifting down, emblazoned with stark words. Before Kentrith could wonder at the odd phrasing written there, the source of the screech followed the fluttering banner, followed by a sickening crunch.

The next scream was pure rage as Nire went out of his mind.

?We?re late,? Kentrith gasped.

He ran down the passage with Tavin in tow, wondering at the young stoat?s complacency. Slapping footpaws sent them both whirling around, only to be confronted by an irate shrew. She reached to her full height and slapped Tavin on the back of the head. ?Ye?re supposed to stick with me!? she spat.

?Blame Kentrith, not me! He dragged me out!?

?Quiet, both of you! Unless you want us to get caught!? Kentrith threw a glare over his shoulder for good measure, then continued on leading them down the familiar passages, heart threatening to pound its way out of his ribcage. ?I don?t remember your name,? he growled at the shrew.

?Nerra.?

?Well, I know why this idiot is here. Why are you here, and where did you get the money to pay for entrance??

There was a bark of laughter. ?Some beast has to keep an eye on Crabby here, make sure he doesn?t do anything stupid. ?Sides, I wasn?t about to let him do anything interesting without me.?

Kentrith gave Tavin a confused look. ?Crabby??

Tavin rolled his eyes. ?It was a lobster, not a crab.?

?You didn?t know that.?

?Whatever it was, I saved you from it!?

?And nearly got yerself drowned doing it!?

?Kentrith.?

The group skidded to a halt just out side the wing door. The blue back waiting for them blocked the entrance to the suites, watching them impassively. Kentrith panicked for a moment, then realized that the ferret looked familiar. ?You are?? he wheezed out through a tight throat.

?Master Blasio asked me to assist you in your task,? the guard replied in an even tone. ?For which you are late. I?m to report on your success.?

Rage washed through Kentrith. ?What, he thinks I will be hard pressed to dispatch a few hostages??

There were twin gasps behind him. The guard ignored them, instead giving Kentrith a piercing stare. ?There have been concerns,? he said, his face bland and his voice a monotone.

Kentrith glanced at his companions to see Tavin reaching for something over his back and Nerra with her hand in her vest. Before either of them could draw a weapon, he turned and snarled, ?I have enough help, as you can see.?

?One does not refuse Master Blasio.?

Gritting his teeth, Kentrith ground out, ?Fine. After you.?

?No, please, lead the way.?

Casting a quelling glance at the beasts behind him, he headed further into the wing of suites, mind scrambling through possibilities. If we kill him, Blasio will know he?s betrayed, but if we leave him alive, the Dibbuns will be in danger. We have to stop him before he enters the room, or the babies will be scarred for life? I can?t kill him in front of them?

The wooden medallion he had received from FTN burned in his mind. No, I am a healer! I?m not a killer anymore!

?Well?? the ferret asked.

Kentrith realized they had reached the door to the nursery, and he had been standing there for some time, wrestling with himself. He turned to the three behind him. The ferret had a raised brow. Tavin kept reaching for his back, but grasping only air and looking disgusted each time. Nerra was trembling, a dagger in her paw. She kept raising and lowering it, and Kentrith realized it was only a matter of time before the ferret saw it.

The guard would raise the alarm, no matter how long he was out. They might not get out in time before they were caught.

Tavin and Nerra were both so young. Tavin had been raised in a horde, and Nerra had been wandering with Guosim her whole life, but he doubted that either of them had taken a life before.

No. That task, if it was a matter of who it would fall to, would always be on the shoulders of the Crane.

?This must be done,? the ferret reiterated, frustration growing.

?Yes,? Kentrith replied woodenly, turning to the ferret. ?It must. Let me just ask this.? He took a deep breath, then asked, ?Why would you work for a  beast who murders children??

The ferret?s eyes widened, but Kentrith was on him before he could make a sound. He wrapped one paw around the guard?s muzzle, using his right to stab him in the heart with his ever present scalpel. The beast jerked, whining softly through the clamped jaws. Kentrith eased him to the floor as the struggles weakened. He could feel the glares of his two companions on him, but it was approaching pawsteps that brought his head up. Tegue rounded the corner, and stopped in his tracks at the scene before him. All of them froze for several long moments.

?Nire?s throwing a fit,? Tegue finally said breathlessly. Nerra twitched as he raced toward them, but Tegue only slid up to Kentrith and took hold of the dying ferret?s arms. ?Quick, we have to hide him.?

Kentrith couldn?t say anything, but jerked his head to the closet that he had used so long ago with Adeen. Together they dragged the body in, tucking it under some old rugs in an effort to hide it, then exiting the room in a frenzy. Tavin and Nerra said nothing, only standing back as Kentrith turned back to the door.

The portal swung open, revealing Marik in the doorway, a blanket slung around his shoulders like a cape. ?It?s about time,? he gasped. When nobody moved, he glanced around, at the blue guard, at the nervous shrew and stunned stoat, and at Kentrith, standing rigid over a small pool of blood. In a much gentler voice, he continued, ?We?re ready to go.?

Tegue moved past him, and Marik limped to Kentrith, who stood frozen. He placed a paw on his shoulder. ?You can mourn whoever that was later,? he said in a low voice.

?But, I killed?? Kentrith choked out.

The comforting paw patted him twice, and Marik replied, ?I know, I know. But we have to get the others out now, before we run out of time.? When Kentrith didn?t reply, Marik placed his other paw on his other shoulder. ?Kent,? he said more strongly. ?We have a problem.? When the fox finally raised his gaze, he continued, ?Guards came and took Fable, not too long ago.? His voice remained steady, but his eyes betrayed his anxiety.

?We can?t wait,? Tegue spoke from behind the twisted marten. He carried a bundle wrapped in a blanket, with spikes poking through the cloth here and there. The oldest rat maid also carried a small bundle, this one with a flat, long tail. Behind them stood several small ghostly figures, shrouded with bedcovers. Marik beckoned the rat maid over, then transferred the small stoat to Kentrith?s arms. ?You need to get them out now.?

That drew Kentrith?s attention. He looked at Marik. ?You?re coming too,? he half-questioned, reflexively accepting the small burden.

Marik shook his head. ?I will wait for Fable here. If we are all gone, the search will be sent sooner, whereas I can stall them if I stay behind.?

?We have to go!? Tegue urged, shifting the prickly bundle.

?Happy,? Marik said gently. ?I?ll slow you down.?

Kentrith turned to Tegue desperately, but the rat was already shaking his head. ?The shrews won?t know me. You have to accompany us, or it will never work.?

Marik took Kentrith?s shoulders, turned him and pushed him down the hall. ?Go.?

Kentrith looked over his shoulder suddenly. ?I?m coming back,? he snarled fiercely.

Marik nodded, then turned and hobbled back into the nursery, closing the door behind him.

*******

Kentrith cursed as they froze before another passageway, as a squad clanked by, thankfully without noticing the huddled mass of small beasts and four bigger ones tucked away in shadow. Kentrith tried to fill his frozen lungs again, and swore he would never take part in any sort of escape again. Apparently, the Crane was not up to high tension situations involving children.

There was one hallway left before they could reach the door to the kitchen, then it was a matter of threading through the various tables and stoves without getting little paws burned, and without drawing attention from the kitchen staff, such as it were.  Tavin and Nerra were both now carrying smaller beasts, and the older ones tried their best to chivvy the rest after the adults. Gathering himself again, Kentrith led the little troupe through the door, into a world of steam and spices. Little ears pricked at cheerfully bubbling pots and noses inhaled the perfume of baking bread. Shuffling the toddling babe he held, Kentrith managed to snag the back of two jerkins before the owners could stray too far, and the others followed suit.

Miraculously, they were silent as they tip-pawed through the warm room, all stealing glances and stifling giggles at the snoring cook who held a ladle close to her apron. They reached the far door that led to the kitchen courtyard, where Tavin was supposed to have met them. Shrugging off a thousand what ifs, Kentrith yanked the door open on silent hinges, and they all shuffled out into pouring wet. He quickly shut the door on complaints, hoping the sleeping cook hadn?t heard, then turned to see if there was any help at all.

"Where's Komi?" Tavin bellowed, searching anxiously through the rain.

Kentrith groaned, suddenly panicked at the thought that one more thing had gone wrong. Speaking of wrong.

He turned to the one companion he had not expected. ?Why are you here?? he bellowed over sheeting rain.

?You were short of help.? Tegue shrugged. ?It?s been needful, to be sure.? He frowned, as if to himself. ?Should have been done long ago.?

?It?s not done yet,? Kentrith growled, thinking of the marten he had left behind, but further argument was abandoned as two hooded figures headed toward them. Both had thick tails, one a rudder, the other a scarlet bush. Dia wordlessly took the babe Kentrith carried, which surprised him, but Eve lowered her hood, immediately soaking her immaculately groomed fur. ?We?re in trouble,? she barked. ?When banner rolled over, a guard was killed. Nire immediately dragged Minerva in for questioning.? She paused, more panicked than Kentrith had ever seen her. ?She was spying for him all along!?

Tegue gasped, clutching his burden tighter, then yelping as he was pricked by tiny spines.

Kentrith breathed deeply, using the rhythm of his lungs to sort through emotions. He couldn?t lose composure now.

?It?s Fable,? he said through the numbness creeping over him. ?He used her, his greatest weapon, to garner Minerva?s obedience. Without any other family, Fable is her only tie to? well, anything. She would do anything to keep her safe.?

?How can that be?? Eve burst out, her paws clenching. ?How could any beast trade so much for?? She broke off.

?Nix killed Marik?s father for it,? Kentrith reminded her. She only pursed her lips, and looked away.

Taking one more cleansing breath, he looked around at the band who had chosen to be here, if for no other reason than it was right. He watched Dia, who cradled the young stoat, who had tucked his paw into his mouth. He had risked everything for her before, and he had risked so much to return here for the other young one who had made such an impact on his life. The reason he had returned, whom he had failed.

There was another baby he had failed as well.

He looked back to Eve. ?I need you to take them to the shrews,? he told her, pushing two young ones toward her and adjusting his soaked shirt.

?Kent,? Dia blurted, alarmed, but Kentrith interrupted, ?Marik?s still in there. And I will not leave a baby to the torturer. Nire?s promoted Hargorn to that position,? he told the scarred otter. Her ears pinned to her skull, and her muzzled curled in a snarl. She opened her mouth to say something, but Tavin beat her to it.

?I?m going with you,? he stated, retrieving his long bundle from some corner he had tucked it in.

?Not wit?out me, ye ain?t,? Nerra grumbled, pulling two waterproof cloaks from somewhere else. Rather late for that, isn?t it? Kentrith wondered, then shook his head.

?It would be better?? he started, but Tavin pinned him with a glare.

?My mother?s still in there. Also, I?m not leaving you alone.? He breathed deeply, then forced out, ?I?ve seen what this place does to you, how it has changed you. I?ll stay by your side, if only to remind you of who you really are.?

Healer, or Crane? He could mean either.

Kentrith grunted, unwilling to argue. ?Well, then.? He turned back to the kitchen door, looking much less welcoming than before. ?Let us get to it.?